by Staff writer
Your 30s can feel sort of bittersweet. Just as you’re coming more into your own and feeling stronger in your identity, your body begins to show some of the first subtle signs of aging!
And just as you’re achieving more stability in your career or personal life, you may discover the stresses that sprout from that stability. There is nearly always some kind of concern among thirty-somethings.
Of course, for some people these things will have less impact than they do others.
But in reality, your 30s aren’t something to fear. They are when things start to get really good, especially when it comes to relationships.
The reason is even rooted in science.
The cerebellum, part of the brain directly connected to how we think, “has not finished growing well into the early 20s,” says neuroscientist Jay Giedd.
Even into our 30s our brains are still changing, “pruning away unused connections and strengthening those that remain.”
As our brains sharpen, our personalities settle. Research has shown that between the ages of 18 and 30, people become more neurotic, introverted and possibly less open to new experiences (but also more agreeable and conscientious).
Those shifts, combined with the life-changing experiences the 20s bring — college, first love, first jobs, traveling — shape our identities, making us much more comfortable with who we are.
“Around age 30, a sense of acceptance begins to settle in,” Ann Friedman wrote.
And that acceptance of self makes us much better partners.
Below are 6 things you are likely to find true when you turn 30:
1. You will no longer feel the need to be with someone because society says you should
At 30, you’ve obviously gone past the age of peer pressure or the likes. Finally 30? Welcome to the new age of individuality and, possibly, better life decisions.
2. You’re less insecure, which means you can be more sincere with others
Hell yes, it might be a little more difficult to throw a 30-something-year-old around.
3. You no longer feel the need to rebel for the hell of it
Those rebellious ways of the teen begin to fade away at 30. You will finally come to understand that there is only very little in life that is within your power to change.
4. You stress less about the little things, including relationship drama
30-somethings are known to deal better with breakups, love, betrayals, marriage, etc. Things you’d have readily fought over when still in your 20s, you simply only now just walk away.
5. You finally feel free to be yourself and accept others for who they are
It is actually very true that 30-somethings gossip less. Why still waste your energy gossiping about someone else when life might have thrown at you some tough hard ball you only just managed, or are still managing, to catch.
You’re also now more confident in who you are, which makes you in turn more confident about the person you’re with.
At 30, obviously, you would have known a lot more about your true person and personality than you ever did in your teens or early 20s.
6. Your body begins to show some of its first true signs of aging
According to a recent study, aging actually starts at 20. Body tissues starts to lose elasticity, and some of the muscles slowly begin to shrink.
But until into your 30s, you might not actually have noticed any of these changes.
